


State Matters

by arcturus7



Series: sit with me in the dark (merthurweek2021) [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Attempt at angst, Day 1, Idiots in Love, M/M, Merthur Week 2021, Modern Royalty, Oblivious Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Pining Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), i cannot angst, i literally don't have a clue as it what this is, i tried okay, they're both idiots your honor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 15:27:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30057567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcturus7/pseuds/arcturus7
Summary: A modern royalty au where Arthur decides the best way to hide his feelings for Merlin is by avoiding him. It turned out worse than he expected when Merlin gives him a taste of his own medicine.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: sit with me in the dark (merthurweek2021) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2211243
Comments: 12
Kudos: 137
Collections: Merthur Week 2021





	State Matters

**Author's Note:**

> DAY 1: "I can't think straight with you!"
> 
> I tried, got the worst case of writer's block, finals are around the corner, and there already was a bit too much angst in my life for me to write angst. Not to mention the fact that I cannot write angst. I just can't. But I tried and had fun doing it even though I should be studying so please excuse this pathetic excuse of a "angsty" fic. I'll try harder in the future, I promise. (lie)
> 
> PS, this hasn't been proofread. I'm so sorry.

“I did something stupid, did I not?”

If it were up to him, Arthur would have taken Merlin and left the country, maybe brought along a suitcase of cash so that they could live comfortably as actors or influencers or anything, and live happily ever after. 

Except, Arthur could never leave the country and his people. He loved them too much to do so. 

Nor would Merlin ever come with him, for that matter. 

“You’re always doing something stupid,” Arthur replied, ducking his head and returning back to the papers on his desk. He knew nothing of the contents of the papers, but he needed a distraction. Something to make Merlin think he was busy. 

“Stop acting like you are busy.” Arthur closed his eyes for a second. Of course, there was no fooling Merlin. Arthur hated paperwork. Merlin did all the paperwork. 

“I am the King, Merlin, I am always busy.”

A scrape of a chair. “Yes, and I’m the King’s Advisor, always ready to call you out on your bullshit.” 

Arthur smiled at that. Despite being raised in a noble household, Merlin never quite learned discretion and decorum. Or, he did— but chose to ignore it. 

“You’re a Prince, _Mer_ lin. One that ran away and claimed the title as my Advisor without consulting me.”

“A bastard,” Merlin corrected. While they both knew it to be true, King Balinor had offered Merlin a position in his court and an official title as Prince. The thing is, that was after they realized how extraordinary Merlin is. Merlin and his magic. Merlin and his wit. Merlin and his beautiful mind. Merlin and his everything. 

“And try not to change the subject, will you?” Merlin said. 

Arthur internally cursed. “We’re perfectly on the subject.”

“Alright, then. You are avoiding me. Why?”

The truth is, he _was_ avoiding Merlin. It was not him that did something stupid, it was Arthur. 

“I have not.” Arthur’s phone buzzed, right at that moment. He, in his twenty-eight years of living, has never, ever been more grateful for a text message. 

“Oh, look at that. Seems like Guinevere needs me to do something.” She did not. In fact, it was a daily gift notification from Candy Crush, not that Arthur would ever attest to playing that game. “Bye-bye.”

Merlin pouted, adorably so. 

Arthur tore his eyes away from Merlin and grabbed his coat. He ruffled Merlin’s hair on the way out as a form of apology. Merlin almost broke his arm for it, but it was worth it. 

*******

Arthur should have never avoided Merlin. 

Because now Merlin’s avoiding him.

He deserved it, yes. But did he like it? No. 

But it was never his fault for avoiding Merlin in the first place. It was Lancelot’s. Who Arthur thinks might be Merlin’s new boyfriend. 

After pining for thirteen years, Arthur had learned how to deal with jealousy and lack of Merlin’s attention. But this time, it was different. 

In the past, Arthur’s always been able to find a fault or more in Merlin’s poor choice in men. He knew the relationship would either crumble or disappear. And he was usually right.

But Lancelot is the human embodiment of a perfect boyfriend. The only fault Arthur could pinpoint was his sugar-sweet personality, and really, that was not even a fault. 

Because of Lancelot, Merlin just canceled their weekly dinner. Of course, it wasn’t the first time over the years Merlin’s done that, and Arthur had also canceled a few of them, but _it was because of Lancelot_. It was tradition. They meet up, pick a place, eat, talk, laugh, and have fun. Or they would stay back, order takeout, watch a movie, or _something_. 

It was the one day of the week Arthur felt free. Now he is stuck in his too-big house with nothing to do other than _paperwork_.

_All because of Lance-the-fucking-lot_. 

To be honest, Lance was lucky that he treated Merlin right. Because Arthur could not, for the life of him, find a reason to put him behind bars. Or have him be exiled. Could he banish people these days? He would have to look into it.

But for now, _paperwork_. Arthur shuddered at that thought. Why was paperwork even a thing? It was always the same thing. Lord Someone wants to marry. Lady Someone wants a piece of land from her husband’s property after divorce. Arthurs job was to be a _King_ , not a marriage advisor or a real estate agent. He was supposed to be looking over battle plans or establishing new laws, but it is a time of peace and making laws was just troublesome these days. 

Arthur just wished that Merlin was here, just so he could make paperwork a bit more bearable.

*******

Gwaine was a great friend. But right now, Arthur wanted to forget he existed. 

Considering he was one of Merlin’s exes who managed to charm his way into their friend group, Arthur had a valid excuse to hate him. But in reality, no one could _actually_ hate Gwaine. Even Merlin could not. Hence why he was still alive and presenting a power-point filled with bachelorettes for Arthur to choose from. 

“Gwaine, _stop_ ,” Arthur groaned, burying his head into his hands. “Why are you like this?”

“I told you, Princess, You’ve been available for too long. If you were anyone else, I’d be dragging you to clubs. But you’re not, so _listen_ ,” Gwaine replied, chewing on his gum.

“You’re not supposed to chew gum on castle grounds,” Arthur scolded. If Gwaine was anyone else, he would either be arrested or executed. Arthur needed to choose better friends. 

“Of course,” Gwiane nodded seriously. “As I was saying, we’ve been through this slideshow once. Come on now, there must have been _someone_ on there. They’re perfectly eligible!” 

“Guinevere was on the list,” Arthur pointed out. 

“Perfectly eligible,” Gwaine said. 

Arthur spluttered, wanting to be anywhere else than here. “She’s like a sister to me!” 

“Excuses, excuses," Gwaine said, shaking his head. He was awfully serious about this. “Now, do you want to look at her slide again?”

“No—” Gwaine pulled up her slide anyway. Arthur ducked his head to look at his nails because the pictures displayed were in no way appropriate for a professional setup. It all felt _wrong_. “If you wanted a job, you could have said so, you know? You have too much free time.”

“I’m perfectly content with my job, thank you,” Gwaine said. He switched slides. “Now, I know you both know each other in real life and that you know the basics, but did you know she rode with Alpha Xi for most of her college life?”

“Gwen was in a sorority?” Arthur exclaimed. She _never_ mentioned that. 

Someone barged into the movie room just then, that someone being _Merlin_. 

“Oh there— what the fuck is that?” Merlin squinted at the screen. He probably forgot to wear his contacts. 

“Merlin! You’re here!” Gwaine said, dragging Merlin to the middle of the room. Oh no. “We were just discussing potential suitors for—”

“Don’t listen to him!” Arthur exclaimed. 

“— For Arthur, here, tell me what you think of these—”

Gwaine flipped back to the start of the presentation, flipping through each slide while adding a few lines of commentary here and there. Arthur covered his face with his hands, wishing to just evaporate into molecules and fly away far from here. 

From what Arthur could see from the gaps of his fingers, Merlin’s back was tense. Gwaine was still prattling on about Vivan’s body when Merlin’s shoulders slumped. Arthur wanted to die of mortification.

Arthur could imagine Merlin squinting at the screen, trying hard to see what the screen was displaying. For a relatively spacious movie room, Gwaine had sadly chosen the last seats for, “enhanced viewing purposes.”

Arthur could not comprehend why Merlin wouldn’t just _fix_ his eyesight with magic or something, but he wasn’t complaining since Merlin looked bloody adorable with his glasses on. The type of adorable that made you want to wrap him up in a blanket and feed him muffins. The type of adorable that made Arthur want to kiss him senseless and boop his nose. Dammit, Arthur was getting soft.

“Princess Vivian seems great,” Merlin finally commented. Arthur groaned, ready to die at any moment. _Vivian_. “Anyways, as fun as that was, I gotta go,” Merlin said, his tone saying otherwise. Arthur was too caught up in the mortification of his crush setting him up with the _vilest_ lady in the seven kingdoms to notice. 

Merlin left, almost in a hurry. He never turned back or acknowledged Arthur’s presence, which hurt more than he cared to admit. Arthur should never have ignored Merlin in the first place. 

“Wonder what that was about,” Gwaine said. Arthur shook his head. “Even _I_ wouldn’t recommend Vivian.”

“Why put her on the list then?” Arthur asked though it came out ruder than he meant it to be.

“Woah-” Gwaine raised his arms up in mock surrender, clicking off the presentation. “What’s got your knickers in a twist, then?”

“Nothing.” _Everything_.

“Lies,” Gwaine accused. “Come on,” he drawled out.

“It’s just…” Arthur began, considering for a second. None of his other friends knew of his sexuality, and he’d like to keep it that way. “... State matters. I’ll be back later if you’d like, but I need to get ready for tonight,” Arthur excused himself. 

Gwaine narrowed his eyes but said nothing of it. Arthur grabbed his coat and made it to the door when Gwaine’s voice interrupted him again. 

“Well, call me up if you need some help, you know? As you said, I’m pretty much free.” Arthur could hear the grin in his voice.

“And what might you know of State matters?” 

“Not State matters.” Gwaine didn’t elaborate. Arthur had a sinking feeling in his chest that Gwaine referred to _State Matters_ , and not just State matters. 

Arthur didn’t bother to answer.

On his way back, he bumped into his assistant, George, a man he was trying his best to avoid. Arthur cursed each and every one of his ancestors for his bad luck.

“My lord! I sent Lord Emrys to inform you, but you never came—” Oh, so that’s why Merlin barged into the room. He was probably trying to warn Arthur. 

George chattered on some more before Arthur prompted him to get to the point. 

“I’m sure you mean no harm in it, but I can see you’re not appropriately dressed for tonight.”

He wasn’t. All in good reason. 

Morgana, the witch, loved to see Arthur suffer. The course of action his sister chose to embarrass him tonight was a tea party out of all things, and who even hosts those types of events anymore? The only relatively good thing that would come out of this was seeing Merlin in a suit. If Merlin was attending tonight. 

Arthur sighed and resigned to his fate, letting George lead him to his rooms.

Tonight was going to be a _long_ night. 

***

Merlin was late, again. 

Arthur leaned back against the headrest, wishing the car seat would just swallow him up so that he has an excuse to not see Morgana tonight. 

Arthur saw something move in the corner of his eye and stuck his head out. Merlin was running over from the palace gardens, a suit jacket in his hand. 

Arthur rolled his eyes and opened the door to the limo, laughing in delight to see Merlin’s hair disheveled. He probably overslept or something. 

Merlin ducked into the limo, cursing out a string of apologies. Arthur could make out the words, “sleep,” “alarm,” and “sorry.” 

Once Merlin was safely seated and had calmed down, Arthur noticed something was off. 

“ _Mer_ lin, you idiot,” Arthur cursed. “Where the hell is your tie?”

“My tie?” Merlin asked, reaching into his suit pocket. His hands moved onto his pants, then to his shirt, and he ended up patting himself all over. “It was right here—” Merlin cursed under his breath. “Turn back, turn back—”

“Alright, alright, calm down,” Arthur said, barely holding back a smile. Trust Merlin to forget even the most obvious of things. “I should have an extra here somewhere—”

Arthur rummaged through a small drawer near the liquor cabinet, which contained the most absurd of things. George probably stuffed all the items he’s left in the limo into the drawer; Arthur never bothered to retrieve them later on. 

The good thing was, he found a tie. The bad thing was, that it was _his_ tie. As in the tie he wore for his impromptu royal ceremonies, aka the one that carried _his_ colors. And it wasn’t a bad thing as long as _Merlin_ wore it. 

“I’m not wearing that,” Merlin immediately said. “That’s your Royal Prat tie!”

“My what?” Arthur didn’t wait for an answer because he knew the explanation would be something as ridiculously absurd as the name. “Now, come on. It’s either this tie—” Arthur had to fight to keep a smile down, “— or you face Morgana.”

Merlin grimaced at that because they both knew just how strict Morgana could be with her dress codes. “But still…” 

“Shut up and come here before I choke you with this tie,” Arthur said. He only realized he didn’t mind carrying out the threat _after_ he’d said it. The bright red _would_ look good against Merlin’s neck, not to mention his lips— 

Arthur cleared his throat to distract his mind from coming up with even more embarrassing things. Merlin turned his gaze away, inspecting his nails, which made it easier for Arthur to tie _his_ tie around Merlin and not die of mortification. 

It felt intimate, somehow, awkwardly wrapping his arm around Merlin’s neck and fixing _his_ tie. Arthur tried to keep his gaze away from Merlin’s eyes, lips, neck, _everything_ , but he just ended up staring straight at his neck and wishing to kiss and bite and mark the pale expanse of skin and see just how deep Merlin’s blush ran—

Merlin was _blushing_. Arthur flattered in his movements for a second before resuming tightening his tie around Merlin. With one final tug, Arthur straightened and tucked the tie in place. 

It shouldn’t have looked so good, but Merlin pulled it off somehow. Arthur rarely liked to wear that particular tie for its bright colors, but it suited Merlin. No pun intended. 

They were silent for the rest of the ride, both for different reasons. Arthur was still intent on ignoring his feelings for the night, and it seemed like Merlin thought the same. But being silent was unnatural for Merlin. It bugged Arthur to no end, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. 

Five minutes into their awkward silence and Arthur couldn’t take it anymore. Merlin was fidgeting like he couldn’t wait till he was out of the limo. Arthur didn’t blame him. Before he could do anything about it though, Merlin spoke up.

“Stop fidgeting,” Merlin complained. Only then did Arthur realize that he’d been playing with his fingers.

“You too,” Arthur said. Merlin stopped tapping his feet. 

It got worse from there. Arthur’s never felt like this in all the years he’s known Merlin. They had something to say even when they’re fighting. Awkward silence just wasn’t a part of them. 

Every few seconds, Arthur felt his attention drift to Merlin’s tie and promptly forgot the reason for their awkward silence. But then his attention would drift to Merlin’s lips, and he’d remember just what put them in this situation in the first place. 

Merlin had turned towards the window, giving Arthur a good eyeful of his long neck. Anything he wished to say died in his throat, although he didn’t know what to say. Should he just outright confess? Maybe apologize? But apologizing would confirm the fact that he was ignoring Merlin. Then he’d have to explain _why_ he avoided Merlin in the first place. Should he comment about the weather, maybe? Or state matters? Or _State Matters_? 

“Alright, that’s enough,” Merlin spoke up, startling Arthur out of his thoughts. Merlin opened and closed his mouth like he couldn’t find the words to continue. Arthur didn’t blame him. 

“You’re right,” Arthur agreed, simply to break the uneasy silence. Merlin nodded, looking anywhere but Arthur. Merlin swallowed and ducked to inspect his nails, looking like he desperately wanted to be anywhere but _here_. 

It hurt that Merlin had to feel that way around him, but it was all Arthur’s fault in the first place. If he hadn’t been such a selfish prat to go ahead and fall for Merlin, none of this would have been happening right now. But Arthur didn’t regret falling in love with him. Not one bit. 

Loving Merlin was inconvenient, tough, and exciting all at the same time. He could never get bored of Merlin, no matter how hard he tried. Merlin was unique, with his brilliant ideas and snarky comments. He was beautiful, with his spectacular magic, something that left Arthur in awe no matter how many times he witnessed the same glow of gold in his eyes. Merlin made it so easy to fall in love— with his smiles that made Arthur’s day a tad bit brighter and their banter that always kept him on his toes. Everything about him made it hard for Arthur to keep his feelings uncovered. 

“Look, Arthur, I’m sorry. I know I fucked up,” Merlin said. Arthur rediverted his attention to Merlin.

“What are you talking about?” Arthur asked in confusion. It was _Arthur_ that fucked up. 

“It’s alright. We can go back to never addressing it ever again,” Merlin said.

“Addressing what? You’re not making any sense right now,” Arthur replied. Merlin turned away and laughed a humorless laugh. 

“Gods, you bastard. You’re gonna make me say it, aren’t you?” Merlin asked. Merlin’s shoulders slumped forward, curling in on himself. He looked small and hurt, and Arthur couldn’t think of a reason _why_. 

“Merlin, what?” 

Merlin huffed and crossed his arms protectively over him. Arthur wanted to reach out and pull him into a hug because Merlin shouldn’t be feeling the need to protect himself from _Arthur_. 

The limo came to a halt right that second. Arthur cursed internally for his horrible timing. Merlin tried to get out, but Arthur stopped him with an arm on his shoulder.

“Stay. Wait,” Arthur said. He wasn’t going to go into the party without fixing his friendship with Merlin at the very least. 

The partition rolled up, and his valet stuck his head through. “We’re here, my lord.”

“Give us a minute and some privacy,” Arthur instructed him. Merlin gave him a dubious look as if he was the one not making any sense. 

His valet nodded and closed the partition, and for the next few seconds all Arthur could hear was the driver’s door opening and slamming shut, followed by footsteps receding on the gravel.

Merlin cleared his throat. Arthur realized that he was still gripping Merlin’s shoulder and promptly let his hand drop. Merlin still refused to meet his eyes.

“I’m not sure what you think, but I can assure you, this has nothing to do with you,” Arthur lied. Merlin whipped his head around, finally meeting his gaze with a glare.

“What _I_ think? You wanna know what I think?” Merlin exclaimed out of the blue. Arthur flinched, caught off guard. “I think you should cut through all this bullshit and face it. Fine, I know I messed up. But if you’re going to throw away _years_ of our friendship aside, then you should man-up and tell me about it!”

“Me?” Arthur found himself repeating. “I’m doing no such thing!”

“Lies. See? **I can’t even think straight with you**. One day you’re pretending like I don’t exist, and the next, you’re denying that you avoided me in the first place!”

“Yes, I avoided you!” Arthur snapped, feeling his patience run out. He couldn’t understand what was bothering Merlin so much, let alone think of what sort of misunderstanding Merlin was under. 

“I knew it. I don’t know _how_ you figured it out, but you did, and I knew it was a bad idea in the first place—”

“Wait, wait, figure out what?” Arthur asked.

Merlin gave him a pointed disbelieving look as if saying ‘the audacity.’ 

“That I love you, idiot,” Merlin nearly shouted.

Their fight came to a stand-still. It wasn’t just the fight, but it seemed like the world stopped rotating, and time had come to a sudden halt. All that filled the air was Merlin’s heavy breathing and Arthur’s heartbeat, so loud, he’s sure Merlin could hear it all the way across the limo.

Merlin’s eyes widened comically, his chest still heaving. Realization dawned across his features. “You didn’t know.”

Arthur slowly shook his head, still a little slow on the uptake. He heard Merlin curse, but all his mind chose to fixate on was Merlin’s words. _I love you._.

_Merlin loved him_.

“But you’re dating Lancelot,” Arthur said and immediately cursed himself for being so stupid. 

“I’m not,” Merlin answered back, confusion laced in his tone. “Lance likes Gwen, but _you_ love Gwen so—”

“What the hell? No. Why does everyone think I have feelings for Gwen? She’s like my sister, for fuck’s sake,” Arthur cut in. 

“Oh, that’s… nice,” Merlin said. He turned away, looking out the window. 

Merlin wasn’t dating Lancelot. Arthur felt like an idiot for being jealous for no reason.

“Alright, that’s been fun,” Merlin forced out. He reached out and unlocked the door, only to be interrupted by Arthur’s voice.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Arthur wasn’t going to let him go until he got _at least_ a kiss from Merlin.

It was _then_ that Arthur realized that he had forgotten to mention a crucial piece of information, which was reciprocating Merlin’s confession.

“Wait, wait, Merlin come here.” Merlin gave him a confused look, which morphed into an expression of fear when Arthur started leaning in. Arthur hated the look of it and aimed to erase it with a kiss as soon as possible.

It was a quick press of lips, a little awkward because Arthur was halfway off his seat and crouching down in the cramped limo, but it felt… Arthur couldn’t describe it. 

“What the hell,” Merlin whispered once Arthur pulled away just a bit. Arthur didn’t want to open his eyes just yet; he wanted to savor the moment in case Merlin decided to punch him for kissing him without permission. 

“I love you too?” Arthur replied, but it came out as a question, for a reason Arthur couldn’t comprehend. He felt hands rest upon his chest, only to be pushed away a second later, making him fall back against the backrest.

“Don’t you dare mess with me, Arthur.” Merlin was serious; Arthur could tell. Arthur shook his head, trying to find the words to make Merlin understand.

“You don’t have a clue, do you?” Arthur asked. Merlin clenched his fists together, looking seconds away from punching Arthur. “For so long, Merlin. I _love_ you,” Arthur rushed to explain.

“No, you don’t,” Merlin shook his head. “I _know_ you. You aren’t even gay!”

Arthur cleared his throat, feeling nervous all of a sudden. “Ever heard of the term, ‘bisexual?’” 

“No,” Merlin said, disbelieving. 

“Oh, well, let me enlighten you—”

“How _did_ you manage to keep it a secret for so long?” Merlin cut in. He looked hurt, which was expected since Arthur’s basically hidden a part of himself from Merlin for all these years. But since Merlin was the root cause of his sexuality crisis, it was hard to bring up the topic. 

“Managed to keep my love for you hidden, didn’t I?” Arthur said, aiming to make the atmosphere a little less tense and to talk less about his sexuality and more about Merlin. 

“You love me?” Merlin repeated. Arthur couldn’t help but smile at that because of course, Merlin didn’t believe him.

“I love you,” Arthur repeated. It was weird, saying the same phrase over and over again. But if that’s what it took to reassure Merlin, then Arthur would repeat it every day for the rest of his life and even after death. 

“Oh my god, gimme a second,” Merlin said, his elbows resting on his knees and his hands buried in his hair. Arthur sat back and relaxed, knowing that Merlin would come around the idea any second.

Merlin loved him. They loved each other. Arthur wasn’t sure for how long Merlin harbored feelings for him, but none of it mattered now. He wished Merlin would wrap his head around the idea soon enough so that they could go back to kissing or something equally exciting. Oh god, they’ve been idiots for so long. 

Merlin looked up, eyes determined. Arthur wasn’t sure if he should be scared, but the dim lighting made it hard to make out anything else in Merlin’s expression. Merlin’s fits were clenched again, and something about it told Arthur he would either be punched or kicked in the next second.

Merlin did neither. Instead, Merlin straddled his lap, an action that shouldn’t have been so seductive, but it _was_. Arthur gripped his waist to keep him in place and couldn’t help but think of how perfectly they fit. 

Merlin peered down at him with hooded eyes, nibbling on his lower lip, drawing Arthur’s sole attention to it. Arthur’s gaze trailed down to his neck and then to his tie and let his imagination run free with what exactly they could do with that piece of clothing. He grew hard in record time, feeling like a reckless teenager again.

After years of pining, he now had Merlin in his arms. It was so worth it. 

“You fucking bastard,” Merlin cursed, cupping his face in his hands. Arthur pulled him closer until they were pressed together from the waist up. It caused Merlin to rub over Arthur’s clothed erection, who let out a gasp.

Up this close, Arthur could make out in the dim lighting just how wide Merlin’s eyes were, just how dilated his pupils were. Merlin ducked down to make up for the height difference until their lips were only a couple centimeters away. An adorable blush colored Merlin’s cheeks, which just made Arthur want to rip his suit off and see how deep it ran. 

“Couldn’t you have said something before?” Merlin whispered. Arthur smirked and leaned in closer until his lips were faintly brushing against Merlin’s. He soon felt something grow hard against his stomach, making him internally jump in victory. “You’re the—'' Merlin gasped when Arthur’s hands left his waist and traveled lower, _lower_ until they rested on Merlin’s arse. “—You’re the worst—” Arthur cut him off with a tight squeeze.

“You could have said something too, you know?” Arthur said. Arthur didn’t let him answer and instead closed the small distance between them to capture Merlin’s lips in a searing kiss. Arthur groaned when he realized his lips were softer than they looked. He could go on kissing him for _ages_. 

Merlin soon moved against his groin, whimpering when he got his much-needed friction. Arthur guided him to do it again and again until they were both a mess of moans and gasps and couldn’t be bothered with kissing anymore. He squeezed and played with Merlin’s perfect arse, who _purred_ under the attention. 

A knock on the window made them halt, and Arthur was just glad the windows were tinted. Merlin whined and leaned forward against his seat's headrest, his hands falling to Arthur’s shoulders and giving Arthur perfect access to his pale, long, _markable_ neck.

“In a minute,” Arthur yelled, his voice a little hoarse. Merlin gripped his shoulders, trying hard to not move. Arthur snuggled up against his neck, placing fleeting kisses all over. 

“My lord, is everything alright?” said a voice, who Arthur guessed to be his valet. 

Arthur held back a groan when Merlin trailed his hand down Arthur’s arm, resting against his biceps and _squeezing_. Arthur might have flexed a little under Merlin’s touch. 

“Tell him to go away,” Merlin whispered against his ear. Arthur couldn’t agree more. 

“Perfectly fine. Just taking care of some important things, we’ll be there soon,” Arthur dismissed him. 

“Are you sure m'lord?” Arthur cursed and bit down on Merlin’s neck, making Merlin yelp in surprise. 

“Yes!” Arthur snapped. “State matters. I’ll be out soon.”

Needless to say, they never actually made it to the party.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh ho ho, look what we have here! A disappointed reader who couldn't find the angst. I'm sorry (T^T)
> 
> If there are any mistakes, please feel free to correct me. Also, constructive criticism and tips are always welcome <3 
> 
> The only reason I actually published this is because Merthur Week is now my favorite Merlin event and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself for not participating. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! <3


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